New Zealand Warns Parents About Buying GTA For Kids

Parents in New Zealand are being warned that they could face fines or prison time for buying Grand Theft Auto IV for their kids.

Bill Hastings, chief censor at the Office of Film and Literature Classification, claimed his agency began receiving calls from retailers wanting to know how to respond to parents who wanted to buy the game "with their 14-year-old beside them," according to a report in the New Zealand Herald. In response, Hastings said, "If it's perfectly obvious the parent is buying the game for the child, don't sell it to the parents. If a game is R18 it's R18 for a reason and it's illegal to make it available to anyone under that age."

Although the 1994 law has never been enforced, parents buying the game for minors, including their own children, could face a 10,000 NZD ($7854) fine or three months in prison. But more than out of fear of being thrown in jail for exercising parental discretion, Hastings said parents should refuse to buy the game for their kids because of its extreme levels of realistic violence. "When the violence does happen in Grand Theft Auto, it is of a quality that makes it R18 - the degree of it, the intensity of it, the realism of it. When you shoot a body it reacts in a very human way. It's not just stickmen falling over. It looks real," he said.

New Zealand gamers received the same edited version of Grand Theft Auto IV as the one released in Australia, but kept its R18 rating despite the game being cut to comply with Australia's upper-limit MA15+ rating. Specific reasons for the cuts to the New Zealand release have not been given, but Gameplanet co-founder Simon Barton said he assumed it was simply a matter of "logistics."

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"Although the 1994 law has never been enforced, parents buying the game for minors, including their own children, could face a 10,000 NZD ($7854) fine or three months in prison."

Good thing its never been enforced I guess.

*feeling good about living in America* :)

I would like to say its good the guy stood up & said dont buy it for ur kids, parents...Except:

But more than out of fear of being thrown in jail for exercising parental discretion, Hastings said parents should refuse to buy the game for their kids because of its extreme levels of realistic violence. "When the violence does happen in Grand Theft Auto, it is of a quality that makes it R18 - the degree of it, the intensity of it, the realism of it. When you shoot a body it reacts in a very human way. It's not just stickmen falling over. It looks real," he said.

Implies hes saying "oh yeah its illegal, but the main reason you shouldnt buy it is coz itl turn ur kids into desensitised lil killers" :rolls eyes:

Once againg a decent public statement tarnished by underlying themes of game violence being bad for us all

Cousin_IT:
I would like to say its good the guy stood up & said dont buy it for ur kids, parents...Except:

But more than out of fear of being thrown in jail for exercising parental discretion, Hastings said parents should refuse to buy the game for their kids because of its extreme levels of realistic violence. "When the violence does happen in Grand Theft Auto, it is of a quality that makes it R18 - the degree of it, the intensity of it, the realism of it. When you shoot a body it reacts in a very human way. It's not just stickmen falling over. It looks real," he said.

Implies hes saying "oh yeah its illegal, but the main reason you shouldnt buy it is coz itl turn ur kids into desensitised lil killers" :rolls eyes:

Once againg a decent public statement tarnished by underlying themes of game violence being bad for us all

He didn't indicate that in any way with that quote. What he was saying, as far as I can tell, is that they won't be arresting anyone for buying this game for their kids, but that it is not a kids game. You could say the same thing about buying alcohol for your own children. Yeah, you're not realistically going to be arrested, but its a bad idea to do for ethical reason, not just legal ones. Honestly I think you're just assuming the worst.

**EDIT** - unless of course you disagree with the M18 rating to begin with, but thats a whole separate issue :)

Don't do it unless:

You are sure your child can cope the violence in the game. And I'm not implying that you somehow raised your child to become some psychotic loon, but rather that some children are more susceptible to violence that others- in all ways.

Also:

Play the game yourself, and then ask whether you want your kid to own it.

Make your child wait two years. Worked with me.

Although the 1994 law has never been enforced, parents buying the game for minors, including their own children, could face a 10,000 NZD ($7854) fine or three months in prison.

Good. Actually, didn't we have a discussion on this Malagrys?

oneplus999:

Cousin_IT:
I would like to say its good the guy stood up & said dont buy it for ur kids, parents...Except:

But more than out of fear of being thrown in jail for exercising parental discretion, Hastings said parents should refuse to buy the game for their kids because of its extreme levels of realistic violence. "When the violence does happen in Grand Theft Auto, it is of a quality that makes it R18 - the degree of it, the intensity of it, the realism of it. When you shoot a body it reacts in a very human way. It's not just stickmen falling over. It looks real," he said.

Implies hes saying "oh yeah its illegal, but the main reason you shouldnt buy it is coz itl turn ur kids into desensitised lil killers" :rolls eyes:

Once againg a decent public statement tarnished by underlying themes of game violence being bad for us all

He didn't indicate that in any way with that quote. What he was saying, as far as I can tell, is that they won't be arresting anyone for buying this game for their kids, but that it is not a kids game. You could say the same thing about buying alcohol for your own children. Yeah, you're not realistically going to be arrested, but its a bad idea to do for ethical reason, not just legal ones. Honestly I think you're just assuming the worst.

**EDIT** - unless of course you disagree with the M18 rating to begin with, but thats a whole separate issue :)

Your right I am reading it the wrong way. After the Calgary police statement, I read the guys (imo unecessarily) long emphasis on the violent aspect of the game & cried foul.

Bad approach. Keep the government out of gaming, and let the parents decide what is best for their children.

The parents are incapable of deciding what's best for their children, apart from the fact that they're practically children themselves (Becoming pregnant at 15?) Letting their children roam free at all times of the day without any discipline, associating with undesirables and perpetuating the single parent cycle (I have a child, I don't need to work, gimme DPB. Just like my mother, aunt and various other relations)

Not to mention parents beating their children to death is fairly common (Or maybe commonly reported, hard to tell with media)

The Anti-smacking bill that was passed recently enjoyed a fairly good controversy (Eh, year or two?)

Though honestly, are all of those problems solely New Zealand? Or is it a common scenario around the world?

I'm about to do something I never thought I would do...*stands and applauds Bill HAstings* Thank you for giving this the attention it deserves without blowing it out of proportion.

You can't buy R18 movies for kids then why is it overlooked for games? I bet these are the same parents that complain when they see their son is chainsawing a hooker to death.

Jeez, what's phoned in anywhere else is banned in Australia. Quick, Yahtzee, before the political bandwagon for real countries breaks down in the Outback and picks up a few more stowaways.

What I don't get is how they are gonna determine how to arrest the parents. I mean, I'm underage, yet my parents reckon I'm mature enough to play it. So, why should they be arrested for buying me a game that I can buy myself in a few months?

Not saying an 8 year old should get the game, but, my question is, how are they going to differentiate between the parents who understand the contents of the game, and are still willing to by the game for their child, and those who are just giving in to their child's whining?

REDPill357:
Bad approach. Keep the government out of gaming, and let the parents decide what is best for their children.

Yea, that's worked well so far.

Good job New Zealand, if only it was world wide these idiot lawyers would shut up.

it wont stop 15 year olds getting the game, NZ parents are push overs (yes Im from NZ, and yes I work where there can be lots of kids, and if i hear "but i want it" too many times i will slap someone, even if it is myself)

Now i do actually take some offence with you guys calling my country crap with our laws

i have one case study that starts with A and i can point out some very bad laws

/end rant

I actually read this in the newspaper itself and yes i think that games with a specific rating should not be given to kids under that limit, i do disagree with the rating but even GTA3 had an R16 rating slapped on it over here.

Also if the law was made before the advent of the Xbox and applies to gamin i think it needs to be repealed and redone

and DR. Evil, Stop being a prick, do some research, New Zealand has had no combat roles in any recent wars, were too busy picking up the peices after the americans a brits clear out, we dont fight in Iraq, Also the law was made in 1994 when one of the worst governments ever was in power, they lied their way to power and then proceeded to go mess up the country.and oh yeah, were not nazis, i will just point out that one of the greatest american industrialists Henry Ford was pro nazi, ass

Any thats another rant over, An easy solution, anyone who is even suspected of giving this game to a kid under the rating must be fully interviewed wether they understand the content of the game and the like.

*just see the threads on what people hate about playing online, read the stuff about americans and then make a comclusion why i hate it when they go all high and mighty on stuff, can i just point out your past (slavery, illegal wars, sponsoring terrorists [oh its true i can even put an article up on it if you guys want me too], not ratifying the kyoto protocal because it will hurt the economy, Pillocks, most of them are a bunch of pillocks*

Had to get that out of my system after seeing the America is way better posts on here, sorry

Sigenrecht:
Jeez, what's phoned in anywhere else is banned in Australia. Quick, Yahtzee, before the political bandwagon for real countries breaks down in the Outback and picks up a few more stowaways.

Wait a minute... GTA IV has been released in Australia? (You would expect Yhatzee to give in to 5000 people flaming to review it as soon it was released there?). Why shouldn't GTA IV be legal in NZ for parents to bye the game? (It is not like it is rated R (The sole reason is that there is no R rating for video games in AUS/NZ

Er...I believe R18 is the R rating in NZ. Australia doesn't have one.